Patriots begin Genocide regional memorial tourney title defence

Women: Group A APR vs Scandinavia (DRC) 5pm Men: Group A Patriots vs REG 7pm Group B Espoir vs IPRC-South 7pm Boundess (DRC) vs Dynamo (Bdi) 9pm Saturday Men: Group A Patriots vs PJB Goma (DRC) 10am PJB Goma (DRC) vs REG 6pm Group B IPRC-South vs Boundess (DRC) 10am Espoir vs Dynamo (Bdi) 12pm IPRC-South vs Dynamo (Bdi) 7pm Boundess (DRC) vs Espoir 8pm Women: Group A Berco Stars (Bdi) vs IPRC-South 2pm Group B Scandinavia (DRC) vs PJB Goma (DRC) 12pm Veterans Group B Patriots vs Bakolo (DRC) 10am Group A UGB vs 30-Plus 2pm Defending champions Patriots begin the defence of the Genocide memorial regional basketball tournament against local rivals Rwanda Energy Group (REG) on Friday evening at Cercle Sportif de Kigali in Rugunga. The three-day tournament, that starts today and runs until Sunday, will be played at different venues within the City of Kigali. Patriots are drawn in Group A along with REG and DR Congo’s PJB Goma. Henry Mwinuka’s Patriots, who are also the reigning national league champions, had a disappointing outing in the local edition that was won by Espoir for a second year in a row after stunning REG 61-58 in the title game last Saturday. The Kagugu-based side finished fourth after being knocked out in the semi-finals by Espoir 87-75 before losing to IPRC-South 65-58 in the third-place playoff game. However, team captain Aristide Mugabe, says they are determined to make amends in the regional edition as they target to defend their title. “The local tournament was a big lesson for us, we never played our usual game, we were not solid as we always are but we need to use the disappointment to try and do better this weekend,” said Mugabe. He added that, “It is not going to be easy, especially against REG because only the top team in each group will progress to final but we have to beat them if we are to have the chance to retain our title.” In another game, Espoir will be up against IPRC-South at Club Rafiki in Nyamirambo starting at 7pm, while Boundess from DR Congo will take on Dynamo at Cercle Sportif de Kigali at 9pm. After Saturday’s games, the top teams from the two groups in the men, women and veterans’ categories will advance for Sunday’s finals, while the second-placed teams will face each other in the third-place playoffs. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Patriots begin Genocide regional memorial tourney title defence